Estes Park Brewery

About

Our story begin on 1993 when Gordon Knight started High Country Brewery in Boulder, Co. That same year Ed Grueff opened the Event Center in Estes Park. In 1994 Ed and Gordon decided to combine the two businesses and the Estes Park Brewery was born. The original Brewing equipment which consisted of a 4 1/4 Barrel Brewhouse was moved to Estes. For the first summer the Event Center kept the main floor as a stage and dance floor. For the first summer we offered four beers: Estes Park Porter, Estes Park Renegade, Longs Peak Raspberry Wheat and Estes Park Pale Ale.

In the fall of 1994, Gordon Knight decided to sell his half of the business. When Gordon left, Eric Bratrud took over as the head Brewer. The Brewery also expanded to a 14 BBL Brewhouse and moved out onto the main floor where it is now located.

In 1995 we started packaging our beers in 12 oz bottles, which expanded our market. By this time we had added a number of beers including Trail Ridge Red, Estes Park Gold, Stinger Wild Honey Wheat and Samson Stout.

1995 was also the first year of the Best of the West Brewfest held in the Brewery parking lot. Since ’95 we’ve continued to evolve both in our restaurant and with our brewing operations.